According to a UN report, climate change is primarily responsible for the fact that the number of natural disasters has doubled since 2000. By 2019, a total of 7,348 major catastrophes had been registered worldwide, almost twice as many as between 1980 and 1999, said the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva today.
According to the bureau, 1.23 million people were killed in these natural disasters. The economic damage amounted to nearly three trillion dollars (2.54 trillion euros). In fact, the damage is likely to be even higher, as many countries, particularly in Asia and Africa, do not publish information on the economic impact.
According to the UN report, most of the natural disasters in the past 20 years were caused by storms, droughts and floods. Overall, the number of these weather catastrophes alone increased from 3,656 in the years 1980 to 1999 to 6,681 in the past 20 years. According to the report, Asia was hit hardest, followed by the American and African continents.
“We destroy with full knowledge. That is the only possible conclusion if you look back on the disasters of the past 20 years, ”said the head of the UN office, Mami Mizutori. Governments are not doing enough to prevent climate risks, she criticized.
